Michael Angelo T.

Santiago
3BBE
The Two Standards
by Horacio de la Costa, S.J.

Life is a Warfare: a warfare between two standards: the Standard of

Christ and the Standard of Satan. It is warfare older than the world, for
it began with the revolt of the angels. It is a warfare wide as the world;
it rages in every nation, every city, in the heart of every man. Satan
desires all men to come under his Standard, and to this end lures them
with riches, honors, power, all that ministers to the lust and pride of
man. Christ on the contrary, invites all to fight under His Standard. But
He offers no worldly allurement; only Himself. Only Jesus; only the Son
of Man; born an outcast, raised in poverty, rejected as a teacher,
betrayed by His friend, crucified as a criminal. And therefore His
followers shall not be confounded forever; they are certain of ultimate
victory; against them, the gates of Hell cannot prevail. The powers of
darkness shall splinter before their splendid battalions. Battle-scarred
but resplendent, they shall enter into glory with Christ, their king. Two
armies, two Standards, two generals and to every man there comes
the imperious cry of command: Choose! Christ or Satan? Choose!
Sanctity or Sin? Choose! Heaven or Hell? And in the choice he makes,
is summed up the life of every man.

Michael Angelo T. Santiago

3BBE
Colonial Mentality
It was a very different Sunday that opened my mind to how far the
Filipinos have gone. On that same day, my friend and I went shopping.
While she was busy choosing the groceries she needed for her new
recipe, I decided to roam around and look for my own necessities.
While roaming around, I saw a mother and a child with loads of
groceries. But what caught my attention was the facial expression of
the mother: She seemed to be angry and scolding her child and that
tempted me to listen to them in discrete manner. Would you like to
know what I heard? The mother was scolding her child simply because
the child did not want those imported chocolate bars and candies. How
shameful of the mother! What was she trying to prove? Why did she
have to scold her child for such a reason? Whats so nice about those
imported chocolate bars? Anything so special about them? Anything so
unique and different about them?
Yes, Ladies and gentlemen, we Filipinos cling to the fact that Foreign
countries are far better than our own country and believed that
foreign countries products are the ones we ought to possess and
utilize.
Indeed! Foreign countries are better than our own country. But Ladies
and gentlemen, cant we just have that nationalism we Filipinos
supposed to have? You are a Filipino and whatever your beloved
country produces, you should be proud of it and be satisfied. Ladies
and gentlemen, if We Filipinos, You and I will take pride in patronizing

our own products, the aspirations and goals of our fellow Filipino who
wish and struggle to produce better goods will surely not go to waste.
They will surely strive more to make better goods. We really cant be
like those foreign countries in just a short span of time, but at least
weve tried our best and took the initiative and opportunity of
improving ourselves. We have to persevere to attain our goals and
keep on reminding ourselves to pursue that goal for our countrys
betterment.

One more thing that we should think ofOur ancestors handed over to
us a very precious heirloom, culture accompanied with values such as
the bayanihan spirit, hospitality to visitors, care for those in need, faith
to God and etc. Ladies and gentlemen, if only these great Filipino
cultures and values would be planted deep into the very nucleus of
everyones heart, evil things such as envy, avarice, hatred, pride, lust
and corruption will surely be eliminated.
My dear Filipinos, how would you like to be considered strangers in
your own native land?